I didn't do any writing on Wednesday night because I knew I had time to do it on Thursday. On Thursday, not only did my day disappear, so did the sattelite that provides my internet service. Here I am at Friday and 3 days behind again.
Wednesday we finished milking and then Bruce took milk samples for both culturing and a milk plant drug test on our fresh cow. We also took blood samples for more pregnancy checks, 8 in the barn and 10 heifers. The heifers that we needed to check had never been fed grain in this barn. They had no idea what we wanted them to do so we ended up catching them one at a time. It is a way to get the job done but it certainly took longer than feeding them grain and catching them all at once in the stanchions. I had done a search on the internet for a lab closer than the one we had been using for the BioPRYN tests and found one about an hour from here. I was hoping to shorten the time it takes to get information back since the lab we are using now is in Minnesota and, for whatever reason, it takes 3 days priority mail for them to receive the samples, and 24 hours to run the test. Bruce ran the silo unloader up in the corn silage silo and then they started chopping corn with Ed chopping and Bruce hauling and unloading into the silo here. Our fresh cow passed her drug test so we are able to milk her into the tank. We are still milking her with a seperate milker since we haven't gotten her milk culture back.
Thursday Bruces dad had other things to tend to in the morning so I was in the barn early and watched the road while the cows came home. I always find it humorous that even after being out all summer some of the cows still actually run home, often breaking into a run when they get to the road and not stopping til they get to the barn. The silo filling continued after Bruce got everyone fed. They aren't able to get very long days in by the time Bruce feeds in the morning and afternoon. Bruce started chopping and Ed hauled loads and unloaded. More progress.
Friday Ed was gone so Bruce chopped the first 2 loads. I got to the field to see him looking under the tractor and it was pretty obvious something wasn't working right. I drove out to where he was and found him talking on the cell phone to the mechanic. As it turned out the shifting lever is connected to a ball/socket and the ball had worn to the point that it was pulling out. Bruce, being the mechanical type, used plastic twine and electrical tape to hold the socket together. He continued chopping and I ran to town to pick up the part that he would need if this didn't work. After 35 miles and $9.97 I got back and chopped 10 loads without any further problems but the part is sitting on the table just in case. I realized today I haven't chopped corn in a couple years. Last year Jim was home and he and Ed helped. The last time I chopped it was muddy and on the hills the chopper wouldn't follow the tractor very well, sliding down hill. The wagon would also slide down hill so it was a continual challenge to keep the chopper on the rows I was trying to chop. Backing equipment up in the mud is another adventure. Today the fields were dry and flat with nothing just slowly curving rows to follow. Chopping is like anything else you do a lot of, it doesn't take long to remember how it is done. Bruce climbed the silo and said our 10 loads gained us 5 feet. Silo's settle a bunch as you get closer to the top so you can work all day and seem to get nowhere. We got home to a phone message that our fresh cows culture was fine. Good information and now we can milk straight up the row again without anyone with special considerations. We did get our pregnancy results via email also so sending the samples to a closer lab worked well. We weren't as pleased with the outcome of this group with only 50% pregnant. We do know they were bred when it was really hot so I can't say we are totally surprised. The frustrating part is they should have been checked earlier but the heifers were on the farthest end of the pasture and on the "to do" list so we have lost valuable time in getting some of them them pregnant. We got a late start milking tonight because Bruce had problems with the haylage unloader. Time to let the door down...already tomorrow's list has started ; )
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